Taylor Hicks and his Filipino band

When Taylor Hicks made the announcement that he was going to spend some of his days in December performing in some Asian country, it was hardly news in the US but it sent a wave (make it a tsunami) of excitement to the Soul Patrollers living in Asia especially, the Philippines. A small country in the Pacific consisting of about 7,100 islands and about 77 different dialects. It is a very tiny country, but such a big market for music. As a matter of fact, it is one of the countries in Asia that is a TEST market for music. If your music "makes" it in the Philippines, chances are, it will "make" it everywhere else (given that the artist is promoted properly, ha!)

This announcement came as a pleasant surprise because no American Idol champion had ever visited the country before. We had Elliott Yamin, Constantine Maroulis and a few others but they were not the grand champions. Taylor Hicks' mall tours in the Philippines was a conclusion of his appearance at the first ever Asian Idol held in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 16th. For the first time, all of Asian nations saw what Taylor Hicks looked and sounded like after thinking he had disappeared after the AI Finale in May of 2006. When he was peforming, he was receiving enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Since Asia is the biggest continent, you better believe a lot of people saw him and were delighted to see him again. Good for Taylor!

Although Taylor Hicks NEVER got the promotion that he should have gotten and we may never know why he did not get his fair shake of promotions that the rest of the Idols, winners and non winners alike are enjoying, Taylor's visit was warmly received by the Filipino people and it is fair to say that his mini concerts were considered hugely successful considering how short the notice was.

But without the people around Taylor who worked so hard to get him to the Philippines and the band that were chosen to play with him, the concerts would not be as successful. So, we would like to take this opportunity to thank those people who worked with Taylor during his visits here. These are the seasoned, well known, session musicians in the country today. The band sounded as if they had played with Taylor for a long time now because they gelled really well together. Until now, it is so hard to believe that they only rehearsed with Taylor once, only several hours prior to the first show in Glorietta on the 18th of December. Taylor Hicks sounded flawless partly because of his accompaniment, the bandmembers which consist of musicians who are sought after in the Philippines' music scene today. Total professionals and highly skilled in their craft.

Louie Ocampo - 1st keys and Musical Director
Marvin Querido - second keys and Arranger
Mike Agorrilla - drums (He's an LA-based Filipino-American session drummer)
Tots Tolentino - sax
Bobby Taylo - bass
Ric Mercado - guitars
Rickson Ruiz - percussion (Taylor was suprised to see a 20 year old boy in his band)
Elke Saison-Ortiz and Eugene Cailao -- backup vocals

The Soul Patrol would like to thank each one of you for the phenomenal job that you did for Taylor Hicks' concerts in Manila. You all have left an indelible mark in the hearts of the Soul Patrol and most especially Taylor Hicks. We look forward to seeing you perform with Taylor Hicks again in the near future. And when that happens, we will be there again, cheering you on and spreading the word of your greatness in all of Soul Patrolland.

Here are a few "thanks yous" and words of PRAISES coming from the Soul Patrol members from all over:

KarinP: No one would ever know that they had such a short time to rehearse with Taylor. The band was amazing from what I saw on the many videos that were posted.

Ragsqueen: It's hard to believe that the band had little rehearsal time with Taylor! From what I've had time to watch, they were awesome and very tight! Congratulations to them on this accomplishment!

COCHEM: Would this band be considered to be Taylor's band for the whole Asia tour early next year?...If so that would be awesome.....They really gelled in only a couple hours, days.....just think if they had a month or so together....

Mouser: The professionalism of the band was apparent..............and Taylor just went with the flow. They did a superb job of picking up Taylor's vibe in such a short period of time. Great musicians and the two vocalists were a welcome addition to the mix.

tygrlillie: Add my thanks as well. It's tough to keep up with the guy, even a layperson like me can see that. They did an amazing job, bravo.

Girl4Reba: Please send them my thanks as well. I thought they were fantastic, everyone of them!!

cbeans: They did a great job playing with Taylor. I was very impressed with their talent and ability to learn the songs and fall right into place with Taylor. Its a sign of a awesome leader, and amazing band talent. Tell them we really do appreciate them.


Maestro Louie Ocampo:




Marvin Querido



Elke Saison-Ortiz




Eugene Cailao



Rickson Ruiz



Bobby Taylo



Mike Agorrilla



Tots Tolentino and Ric Mercado